Court case re; Insurance

Mrs_pbradley936

Hello,

About 18 months ago I had a minor accident, filled in claim form car was fixed and I forgot all about it, even sold the car and bought another one. Well yesterday I got a letter from the solicitors handling the case to say "liability is still in dispute and that my options are:-

Abandon
Offer a 50/50 split
Issue Court proceedings".

Now the only out of pocket expense I have is £200 excess as I am Fully comprehensive. My main concern would be my No Claims Bonus. I have full legal cover under the policy and am confident that my description of the accident is better than the other drivers' (they sent me a copy). Bye the way he is only 3rd Party. What is involved if I say go ahead and issue court proceedings?

impy78

pbradley936 wrote:

Hello,

About 18 months ago I had a minor accident, filled in claim form car was fixed and I forgot all about it, even sold the car and bought another one. Well yesterday I got a letter from the solicitors handling the case to say "liability is still in dispute and that my options are:-

Abandon
Offer a 50/50 split
Issue Court proceedings".

Now the only out of pocket expense I have is £200 excess as I am Fully comprehensive. My main concern would be my No Claims Bonus. I have full legal cover under the policy and am confident that my description of the accident is better than the other drivers' (they sent me a copy). Bye the way he is only 3rd Party. What is involved if I say go ahead and issue court proceedings?

A longer, more drawn out claim, but if you are successful, you retain your ncd, whereas if you abandon, or accept 50/50, you won't.

jonesMUFCforever

Who are the solicitors acting for? You or the other party?
I would send this to the insurance company to sort out.

Mrs_pbradley936

The solicitors are acting for me. My insurance is with Norwich Union via Ford.

jonesMUFCforever

So who instructed the solicitors - was it you or insurance company?
How much was the claim for?
Do you have protected NCB?

Mrs_pbradley936

Norwich Union appointed them to work on my behalf. The claim was for £1100
and I am not sure if my no claims is protected but I think it must be because my insurance has not increased.

jonesMUFCforever

Then whatever you do will not affect your premium so tell them to abandon the claim pay them the £200 and move on.

Mrs_pbradley936

I have already paid the £200 - they are trying to get it back for me.

flang

The problem is if you abandon your claim you will always have to delclare the accident to othetr insurers which will put your premiums up, If you feel strongly that the accident wasnt you thought and your happy to go to court then i would fight it.
its a true fact that very few accident claims actually go to court!

Mrs_pbradley936

I do feel very strongly that it was the other driver's fault and I shall be telling the solicitor to issue proceedings. I am quite willing to let a Court decide which description is more accurate when faced with the two versions of events and the damage sustained supports my account.

I say that I was holding my position in a lane on the motorway when he changed lanes abruptly and collided with my car. The damage to my car (passenger side) starts on a level with the wing mirror, in fact the wing mirror was damaged. The whole side of his car was damaged as well (drivers side).

He says I came from behind him at great speed, overtook him and cut in too soon. Well that is what he means – his English is appalling. Had the accident happened as the other driver says my car would have had to have hit his car on purpose and with intent to have the damage it sustained because his car would have been in plain sight at the time.

If my car been overtaking his and cut in too soon (as in an accident rather than an intentional ram) then only the rear wing of my car would have been damaged and the front wing/front bumper of his

Tight_Git_3

Run with the court case.

You say that you are covered for legal costs, so there won't be any expense for you, win or lose.

If you win, you will get your £200 excess back, and the other side will have to pay your insurance company the £1100 repair bill. You will retain your full NCD, which as a Flang said will help when looking round at insurance renewal time.
If you loose, you choose to abandon or it goes 50/50, then it will go down as your fault.

My wife's a barrister and does a lot of these type of court cases. From what you have said happened, you should win. The courts look closely at what damage was caused, and your legal rep should be making a big thing of how his version of events don't add up to the damage caused, therefore casting doubt on his story, hence you win.... in theory!